A tennis tantrum by Russian Mikhail Youzhny left him bloodied but made him a YouTube celebrity.

When Youzhny hit a backhand into the net during his third-round match Monday at the Sony Ericsson Open, he angrily whacked himself in the head three times with his racket strings. The forehand to the forehead sent a thick stream of blood running from above his hairline down his nose nearly to his mouth.

By Wednesday afternoon, video of the tantrum had drawn more than a half million hits on YouTube.